헤이그 재판협약상 승인 및 집행의 요건과 절차

As the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Civil or Commercial Matters (HCCH 2019 Judgments Convention, hereafter ‘the Convention’) is accepted, we have three Conventions on the recognition and enforcement including the UN Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation (Singapore Convention) and the UN Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (New York Convention). The Judgments Convention establishes the obligation of mutual recognition and enforcement of judgments among States without reviewing the merits of the decision. “Judgment” is defined as any decision on the merits given by a court, however the Convention does not define “court”. Judgments include a decree or an order, a default judgment, a non-monetary judgment. To be recognised in the requested State, judgments should have effect in the State of origin, which means that the judgments should be legally valid and operative. However, the Convention does not require that the judgment be “final and conclusive”. In addition, recognition and enforcement may be postponed or refused if the judgment is the subject of review in the State of origin or if the time limit for seeking ordinary review has not expired. The Judgments Convention set forth defences to refuse recognition and enforcement, which are related with the notification, fraud (procedural or substantive), public policy, choice of court agreements, inconsistent judgments. The court addressed gives effect to the determination of the legal rights and obligations made by the court of origin, and the court addressed is not entitled to review the merits of the judgment except for the application of the Convention. Without a special procedure for the recognition, the judgments normally will be recognised automatically, and the enforcement process requires a declaration of enforceability (exequatur) or a registration for enforcement. I hope the Judgments Convention enter into force in the near future like the New York Convention and the Singapore Convention to ensure global circulation of foreign judgments and to enhance judicial co-operation in civil or commercial matters by removing legal barriers to free movement.